Mokey was a highly anticipated arrival here at Critter Country. I aquired her mother, Dally, in November of 2005, knowing she was in foal to a black and white miniature pinto stud, but not knowing her due date. Dally kept me in total suspense the whole time, with off and on signs of foaling, and being a maiden mare who had not had foals before, she had me spinning. To top things off, she was my first horse, my first actual dealings with a mini, she was bred to a stud who is larger than her, and she was only 3 years old. I also had never even attended a live foaling, never mind actively participating in one. (I call it, playing vet..and I did NOT feel qualified!)

On the morning of May 24, Dally finally had a good sized udder and began waxing at the end of her teats. By the afternoon the wax was huge and I knew it was not going to be long. I cancelled my dentist appointment and sat in for the day, watching the camera on my monitor. I had my cam online as well, and had 'Dally's Online Fan Club' poised and ready. In the late afternoon I wrapped her tail and re-bed the stall. There was no turn out for Dally that day, but she did go for a little walk and graze a little.
In the early evening, I went up to the barn to do a hands on check of Dally. She was lying down and did not get up when I entered the stall, which was unusual for her. She let me come in and crouch beside her and stroke her, even when she was lying flat out. My hubby noticed from the house that something was up and joined me in the barn. He stated she must be close to foaling, because she was acting really wierd. I already knew that of course.
By 3 am, May 25, I had gotten sick of staring at Dally as she was doing her usual routine of eating and more eating. I was wired and irritated from little sleep, false signs of labor throughout the weeks,and obvious anticipation. I did notice Dally was urinating a little more than usual. Her manure had already become more numerous in the previous days, so that was not a reliable indicator. So as I watched Dally hike her hind legs up as if her weight was too much to bear, (a usual occurrence for her in the last few weeks of pregnancy) and then lie down flat in her usual sleeping area, I grabbed my stuff from the computer desk and proceeded to head to the bedroom. She was not pacing, she was not sweating, she did not roll or lie down and get back up, she just lied down and got comfy like she alwas did. Plus she had finished her grain and hay that night. Nothing in her usual habits had changed.
I went to shut off the monitor. That was when I noticed Dally's belly seemed to be jumping forward and back and her front legs were extended as well as her head. Something about her head nodding also alarmed me. I could not see her back half as it was under the camera. To be on the safe side, I dove into the bedroom and told my hubby I was headed to the barn as I thought Dally was pushing. (at this point I really did not think she was foaling, I thought I was being paranoid again!) I DID think to grab the camera just in case but felt foolish doing so. Hubby moaned something and went back to sleep.
Sure enough when I got in the barn, Dally was up and the amniotic bag was hanging from her back end! Too late to let hubby know this was the real thing, (and panicking because I was alone with no phone and no help!) I got to work and moved Dally off the wall as she was trying to push the foal back in. I grabbed a towel from my foaling kit, and she layed down again and I could clearly see the first hoof and the second one just appearing. I breathed a sigh of relief and started coaching Dally. I knew once that second hoof was out, I was going to help. Dally was a trooper, she never rolled or thrashed. She never got up again during the foaling. She lay there as the foal's nose appeared on top of the second hoof. I pulled on the foal's forelegs with every effort Dally exerted in her contractions. I just told her how good she was the whole time. Once the filly's shoulders were out, I tore open the birthing sac which turned out to be very tough, and I am not quite sure if the filly would have been able to get herself out of it, had I not been there. I would not like to speculate. The foal's tongue was hanging out. Then her hips got a little lodged (moment of panic there!) but I turned the foal slightly sideways and tugged vigorously with the contractions and sure enough, she slipped out into my arms. Once the filly was out, I dried her off vigorously with the towel (one towel was certainly not enough I discovered-thank goodness I had two!) I dragged her up to her mom, who made the most amazing puttering, whuffling sounds to her new baby. It was perfect. By this time the filly was all legs, and already trying to use them. I took note of her sex; filly, and then checked over her markings. She had a tiny white spot on her side and a big white blaze. Other than that, a spitting image of her mom, black all over. The filly came right over to me once she found her land legs, and tried climbing me and nursing from my sweater. Finally the umbilical cord snapped as Dally got to her feet. Dally passed the placenta while I helped her filly find the milk bar, iodined the umbilical stump and gave her an enema (which was hard with the filly sitting in my lap!). Once Dally felt a bit better she came over to kiss her new baby so I left them alone to bond and to go racing to the house to tell hubby what just happened.

I was so excited it was like Christmas..only better. It was light out when I left the barn and that was eerie. I DID remember going up there when it was pitch black..where did the time go!?
Hubby reluctantly came out to see the new arrival. He thought she was cute. I noted the filly was shivering, so I put one of my daughter's old sweatshirts on her. It fit like a glove, and got her temperature back up to where she stopped shaking. I did try wrapping her in a blanket, but this really bothered Dally and she kept trying to remove it with her hoof. I figured that was not safe for the foal, so I stayed long enough until she stopped shaking, and then left them alone again.
Her first day was awesome. She got to go outside since she was born so early that morning. I let my vet know she was here, and everything seemed to be fine. Dally was being awesome and you could not even tell she had a foal, and that this was her first. She had no problems letting us pet the foal or her and was letting the baby nurse as often as she wanted. The filly was very independant. She wandered over 100 metres from Dally, without even a backward glance from either of them. But Dally would get concerned if her filly disappeared with a human..then her mothering instincts kicked in.
The filly was named Mokey.

Mokey's Photo Gallery

Mokey Video- May 27/06

Mokey Video- May 29/06

Waxing, May 24/06

Mokey on the webcam,

15 minutes after birth